Power restored in downtown Spokane

Electrical power has been restored in downtown Spokane after a 3:40 p.m. outage interrupted service to traffic lights and major buildings for about an hour. An Avista Utilities spokeswoman said in a news release at 4:30 p.m. that customers had power back or would shortly. Work at the Post Street substation was to blame, the release said. The outage struck along the Spokane River east of Monroe Street and affected 437 customers, including buildings along Spokane Falls Boulevard and Main and Riverside avenues. Spokane City Hall, the U.S. Court House and River Park Square were without power. The area included Riverfront Park and stretched northward to Maxwell Avenue, west to Jefferson Street, north of Riverside and east to Bernard Street. Volunteer Nicole Hensley said that the outage knocked radio station KYRS off the air. The station operates out of the Community Building at 35 W. Main Ave. and does not have an emergency generator. A separate smaller outage was reported near Gonzaga University. The outages at 3:45 p.m. had cut off service to traffic lights and were setting off alarms at several buildings.